Failure
by rockyroad69
Summary: Naruto has finally won the war, but at a terrible cost. Will he finally fall to his depression and self loathing, or will he recover? Oneshot(depends). A bit depressing. A good amount of angst. No pairings(as of yet)


Failure

**Hi readers! As you can see this is a relatively dark oneshot about Naruto. Without further ado, sit back, and enjoy this story! RnR. Everything belongs to Kishi.  
**

Naruto paced around the battlefield as he surveyed the carnage. Sure, he had assumed the post of leader of the Alliance and achieved his dream as Hokage. Not to mention he won the war. However, he could not shirk of the feeling that it was all for naught. Madara was finally defeated, but at what cost? Everyone was dead. None but a few survived. Naruto simply let his tears fall as he tried to comprehend the uncountable sacrifices needed to stop a single madman.

"You know, Kurama? What now, eh? " Naruto asked, intent for any reply. He couldn't stand the uncomfortable, no, the all-consuming silence.

"**Live out or die, kit. That's the only thing we can do. Everyone's dead anyway." **The fox finally conceded, after a long pause. There was not much else to say anyway.

There, Naruto finally threw his head back in despair. He _swore_ to protect everyone. What would his parents say? What would Kakashi-sensei say? He started to blame himself as he remembered his rash move of attacking blindly against Madara, who set a lethal trap on the Alliance and exterminated them. While Naruto managed to defeat Madara in that final battle, it was for nothing. Naruto gritted his teeth as he reflected on his life as a whole. Madness started to grip on his mind as grief and regret overcame his soul. He achieved his dream, to be Hokage. But to be Hokage of who? There was no one alive anyway to be Hokage of anyway. He wouldn't deserve to be one anyway. A Hokage was supposed to protect the village, to protect everyone. He couldn't even protect his friends.

"NOOOOOOOO! EVERYONE! " Naruto screamed while gripping his temple. It was hell. Perhaps Madara's idea of a dreamworld wasn't so bad after all.

Madara was right after all. Peace could never be attained among Shinobi. And the evidence was the grotesque him sight Naruto had before. Naruto only hung his head as he reflected on his naiveté. Peace? Happiness? It was just a foolish _illusion_. A ruse to give the Shinobi an excuse to fight. Pein was also right. Naruto smiled sadly as he thought about Pein, or rather, Nagato.

"You know, Nagato, it looks like the ending all went to shit too. It just… ends," Naruto thought, sorrow filling him as he stood in this wasteland.

Naruto could only finger his pocket as he took out a familiar book, _The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi_, where it all started. Naruto half-heartedly laughed as he thought about it. The book had such a promising beginning in the foolish dreams of Ero-sennin. Foolish, but grand and ambitious. It truly set the stage for the sequels, only to be shot down by the terrible quality of the sequels. The second book was about a vulnerable saviour with great power who was manipulated and did evil, but redeemed himself and entrusted the foolish dream to the hero in the third book. Then the last book came and ended. The saviour for the last book saved everything, but lost everything. It was a shitty ending for a series with such potential.

It was there Naruto closed the book, having read the ending. His friends… ended too. Perhaps it was his time to end. Perhaps it was better if he just closed the failure of a book. There was nothing to be done anyway. Nothing he could do. He could only just live on the fact that he failed his friends. That pink haired beauty. That dark-haired emo. Or even that auntie, who entrusted the spot of Hokage to him shortly after she took the hit that would have taken his life.

"_Protect everyone kid. Defeat that asshole. I'll bet on it," _The grandma said, laughing as life faded from her.

"I wouldn't know, you're the Legendary Sucker after all, baa-chan," Naruto said as he sat down and fell deeper into despair.

It was here the Kyuubi sensed danger. In a bid to save Naruto from himself, he immediately tried to reach out to Naruto, only to be blocked out by Naruto's self-hate and sorrow.

As Naruto took out his kunai, he whispered, "I'm meeting you again, everyone. Just wait a little. I'll tell you all how I kicked Madara's ass. Just wait mom, dad. I'll join you in a while. Maybe we'll have a cup of tea or something. Ero-sennin and Baa-chan can join too."

"**OI KIT! HOLD YOURSELF TOGETHER! Maybe we can work this out! You think they died for you to go out like **_**that**_**?**" Kurama thundered, hoping to put some sense into Naruto, who by this point had lost all hope.

"What's there to work out?" Naruto answered. Kurama could only growl, he couldn't answer that question Naruto asked.

"**I hate **_**weak **_**hosts. Perhaps there was once a time where I respected you, but no longer. Go rot and die, **_**human**_**. You don't even **_**deserve **_**to speak my name anymore, **_**human. **_**Your friends would be disappointed with the piece of trash they chose to save," **Kurama spat at Naruto. As far as Kurama was concerned, Naruto had _given up, _and essentially spat on the sacrifice his friends had made so Naruto could live.

"Hmph, you'll reform in a couple of years anyway, if that's what you were concerned about. " Naruto retorted, but he got no answer.

It was then Naruto knew he had fucked up. He had essentially alienated his only companion. He tried to call out to Kurama again, to apologize, to make up, but there was no answer. Kurama stopped caring. He bit his lip as death became more appealing. He positioned the kunai on his neck, ready to cut, when he heard a familiar voice.

"_Stop. What the hell do you think you're doing, __**Dobe. **__And here I thought you were strong."_

Naruto paled as he recognized that nickname. Sasuke..? But he was dead! Naruto saw him fall. Kurama was also taken aback. This was no hallucination, it was real! A real voice from the dead!

"_Why have you lost hope? We did not give our lives to see you waste yourself like this, Naruto… I certainly didn't."_

Naruto could only say, "But what's there to live for, Sensei?"

"_A new start, Naruto - baka! A life! Peace!"_

Naruto laughed, "Hmph, a new start? There's nothing to start on anyway."

"_Come on, stand up, Naru-chan! Stop moping! The dream is not finished yet!"_

"Mom… Im sorry for not fulfilling that dream…"

"_We have always believed in you, Naruto. Believe in yourself and surely you can fulfil our dreams"_

"But dad, there's no dreams to stand on!"

"_That's not true. Just follow your heart. Rewrite the book."_

"But there's no way, Nagato! It's impossible!"

"_You have already done the impossible. There is always a way, Naruto. And I trust you to do the impossible, yet again."_

"Ero-sennin…"

Naruto only could look down in shame as he took in what they said. They had sacrificed for this foolish dream, for Naruto to fulfil it, only for Naruto to fail. Some 'saviour' he was.

If only he could turn back time…

**WOOHOO! HI GUYS! This s my first crack on making a fanfiction on Naruto! A pretty OK oneshot, if I should say so myself =). Anyway, uh, a question. Should I turn this to a time travel fanfiction, or should I just make it stay as a oneshot? I got that idea from a friend of mine as he read this story for me before I released it. Tell me in the reviews. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and toodles!~~~**

**Alice in Chains – Angry Chair**


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